Grass cutting 101

Jacob cut the grass for me this week... he does such a great job and is so patient. We don't own a lawn mower and our yard is so small that we are able to cut it with yard shears. Gotta love that !

Honesty ....

Today, I am sending flowers to myself. I'm sure that I'm not alone in having seasons in life where you hurt deeply, feel lonely and just overall insecure in who you are and what you do as a parent, wife..in my case ... overseas servant of the Lord. I have battled blogging, posting , calling, writing anyone who could give an ear and honestly, sometimes some things in life are just to deep and personal for such a broad scope of expectation on people to understand... David tells me that people are still reading our blog... i wonder who those very patient people are (smile) ... I am grateful for you all... 


And so today I am sending flowers to myself. My flowers represent the beautiful in life. They represent the hope that rises from ashes. The beauty of color that contrast with dark days. They represent life to it's fullest and most profound days that we are given. I am certain that there must be a reason to be in a new country with new EVERYTHING and to recline alone in the arms of those you've been with everyday and the arms of Jesus alone. As I type that .... I have to wonder why would I desire to go anywhere else? 


For so long I think that I have not been able to really cry for the growing pains that we have walked , run , hiked and drudged through. I can't help but think that if I start I may never stop and where is the beauty in that? I read this morning of Jesus crying out to the Lord to let his cup pass from him and yet if there was no other way then so let it be... Lord, I want that to be my greatest victory in trial.... that I would come to the place in life where even though I am dreadfully discouraged, afraid or  alone I would find solace and comfort in the hour that you bring me to total surrender ... that in realizing my cup does not hold for the moment the things of great joy, energy and excitement that i would still accept, drink and rise again to say with confidence .... i don't want this Lord. I don't like this Lord...but if it has to be... so be it. Knowing that my sweet Jesus has flowers and victory waiting for me... and since he is the cultivator of life, the gardener of all roses... I can be confident that EVERY flower in Guatemala has been given to me... How much more beautiful they will be also if I receive them the very day that my savior returns for me and this life is vanished and I am surrounded by the beauty of Jesus that this life has not yet depicted to me ...even in the most beautiful of nature. 

I would covet your prayers for strength in difficult days, rest from the aches of sadness, energy and focus to continue to serve my family when I'd just rather sit down and cry. Thank you for not needing the "what in the world are you talking about " from me. You are all family to me and to us all. It takes a great deal of love, believing and appreciation for honesty to go before the throne for a brother or sister. Therefore, my flowers are for you too today..... if you are aching and needing Jesus to sit with you and hold on to you so that you are not able to run I am praying for you today. If you have been asked to drink from a cup that you know is bitter and unwanted by others and with great confidence you know that your father has asked this of you... drink and know that you aren't alone... loneliness, discontentment, pain and insecurity are not ours to hold onto.... but instead, confidence, strength, contentment in trial and companionship are ours . Choose it!  I am ... thank you for your ears today. May we all see life today as a beautiful bouquet of flowers...the good, bad and the unwanted. 


Love to you all from Guatemala,
m

I've found an art store ! Hurray

This is what I painted to go over Tylers bed. I promise, it's not crooked on the wall. I must have been tilting my head ...luckily it was only while I took the photo and not while I was painting...

This is the one that I painted to go over Eli's bed. I really loved having some projects to work on while David was traveling and am looking forward to throwing some more paint on the walls !
Keeping you "posted",
M

Jumping Around..August Birthdays...so far

Eli wanted a lunch at McDonalds and a McFlurry instead of a cake.. at 7 years old, can you blame him? 

everyone came out to sing..Shrek is the huge, new thing here..hence, the Shrek hats

birthday hugs

they guys..minus Cooper who was dearly missed and in the states 

Me and Grace

Me and the Birthday Boy...so handsome! 

Funny story... last year David turned 40 and had a horrible (no kidding) birthday. This year we were determined to redeem the day. Things did not go as planned and the first part of the morning was a challenge...to top of a rocky morning for the Birthday Boy our van overheated on the way to church and therefore crash and burned on the side of the road (it died on us last year for David's birthday) on our way to church. It did come up for air and managed to get us home. We joked about putting on a sign on the road saying that it was a gift for whoever could afford to keep it bandaged and we were off to get a  new car....we jumped all 7 of us into our trusty Civic and headed to the mall... here it is... the car that David got for his birthday.... well, not exactly... but it was parked in the mall where we had lunch, David pulled out his keys for a photo opp. It was a much needed comical relief.... while we were doing this the 3 little guys thought is was super cool and Jacob and Grace disappeared only to be found once the camera was back in the bag....to funny ! We ARE getting old ! 

Jacob and Birthday boy #1 

more Shrek ears.... 

the Evans men (Birthday Boy #2) posing...... the Shrek ears in the back really set the photo.... don't you think?

Catching Up...starting with our trip to the beach for Fathers Day.

Ahhhhh......a face lift for our blog AND photos ! Not just any photos either but ones of our amazing time getting away for Fathers Day to Monterrico on the Pacific Coast.
photo: David in his MUCH deserved lounge chair totally chillin' 

another shot of the beach... we loved the pool.. you could just look over the edge and there was the Pacific Ocean

the kids loved swimming up to the counter and getting FRESH , JUST SQUEEZED OJ 's .... 

looking up at the sky with coconut eyes... 

isn't the sand beautiful ! It's very rocky and HOT.... seriously used caution with the kids ..sun screen and SHOES

the pool man found this little guy in the filter...hummm....wonder how he got into the filter? I guess he was on the bottom of the pool with our toes ! 

how strange.... round three.... it was just not that long ago when our FIRST three were making the same jump from the side of the pool .... adoption is an amazing journey ...a blog for another day.......hope your day is sunny and full of righteous waves !
love,
M

It seems like I say...

It seems like I say that we're "coming up for air" a lot on here... maybe I just think that a lot. But tonight, it truly feels that way. The summer months have been both a blessing and a fury of things to do and places to go....at least for David and our older children anyway. David has traveled   almost 4 weeks out of the 10 we've had since June. (whew!) Jacob and Grayson have also. They have been to the states on a mission trip and then traveling some here in country with FH. I can remember our pastor having dinner with us and saying "it's wonderful to have company but are you guys sure you're up for all of this ? " At the time I had NO idea what it would feel like to say so MANY hello's and goodbyes. The actual act of everyone being busy was fine but my goodness .... our heart strings resemble something a cat has gotten hold of ...especially after saying goodbye to parents (David's ) and his family's home church the week before last and then our home church last week. When we attended our missions training in Colorado before heading here our leader said this, "you know you've loved well if saying goodbye hurts." .... I pray that everyone who has come our way this summer has felt the love that we indeed have for each of you , your husbands, your wives, your children ...anyone who has come our way OR been sent our way. Our hearts have had so many bandages applied in these last weeks that we could hold up a building (at least in Guatemala - jk) with them all.... Praise the Lord we have our memories to tied us over until we all meet again...either somewhere in God's world or in heaven one.... Eli was praying tonight and made a truely simple but profound statement... Lord, I love you...I've always loved you....and so... I love you Lord..
I loved this because it's just that simple most days... Lord, you have our love because it's just there..it's who we are ..who we were created to be....

From Guatemala...goodnight with love,
Mel
Ps...our signal is still so slow that I cannot post photos.. I'll keep trying (promise)...

Trouble Posting Photos

Uggg... I would feel REALLY horrible that I haven't posted in a month but I'm thinking that summer is like this for everyone.. especially us mom's. Here in Guatemala we are CRAZY busy... David especially. Since the beginning of June , David has had many teams and been gone for several weeks. We are having two teams come these next two weeks and he will be gone again. This is all very new for us and I am struggling at times to keep us with it all... counting it all joy but still adjusting to ALOT of change !

I can't seem to load some of our  photos tonight . I had thought that it would be fun to share some of our photos from July of last year when we'd first gotten here but I'm not having success tonight . I will continue to try to post our current photos .... we took David to the beach for Fathers Day (we are just 2 hours away ) and we had a blast... nothing like a trip to the beach in the states but then again, why should it be? We're in Guate. Black beaches, crabs in the pool filter and hammocks in the shade... great time !
Hoping to share photos soon,
m